Boiler-furnace.



N0. 807,090. vPATENIED DBO. 12, 1905.

' y A. RAHNER.'

BOILER PURNAGE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5,1905

z'sHBBTs-SHBBT 1. 20'

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Witness-es Inventor v n l At'torneys No. 807,090. PATENTED DEG. 12, 1905.

A. RAHNER.

BOILBR PURNAGB. V APPLIVCATIQN FILED JUNE 5,1905.

2 SHEBTS-SHBET Z.

Azay LL-S Qa/7262* Witnesses J Attorneys UNITED STATES PATENT oinrion.y

AUGUST RAHNER, oF cREsToN, IoWA.

BOlLER-FURNAGE.

nace, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to boi1er-furnaces and it may be described as anirnprovement upon the boiler-furnace for which Letters Patent of the .United States No.l 595,339 were granted to myself on the 14th day of December, 1897.

The present invention relates particularly to the construction of the improved boilerfurnace, of a plurality of units each constitut ing a water-heater and each of said units being provided with fiues or passages for .the products of combustion. f

rI rhe invention further relates tothe combination with said units of a fire-box at the lower end and a dome or cap at the upper end, each also constituting a waterheater.

Another object ofthe invention is to so construct'and combine the units of the device as to form or constitute a magazine through which fuel may be fed to the fire-box.

Afurther object of the invention is toprovide for the adjustment of the grate in order that the feed of fuel may be regulated.

The invention further consists in the adap- -tation to the present invention of the automatic fuel-forcing and grate-operation mech-` anism substantially shown and claimed in my previous Letters Patent above referred to.

With these and other. ends in view, which will readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the iriproved construction and novel arrangement and combination of parts, which will be hereinaft r fully described, and particularly pointed 'o t in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and vpreferred form of embodiment of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited, but that the right is re. served to any changes, alterations, and modi-v fications to which recourse may be had within y the scope of the invention and without depart ing from the spirit or sacrificing the eiiciency of the same.

tional view of a boiler-furnace constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevationof a boiler- Specification of Letters Patent. Y

Application filed June 5, 1905. Serial No. 263,833.

. Patented Dec. 12, 1905.

furnace the dimensions of 'which have been reduced by removing several of the units shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the'plane indicated by theline 3 3 'in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional detail view illustrating one of thegrate-supports. Fig. 5 is'a perspective detail view of` the forked contact member used in connection with the invention.

yCorresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughout by similar characters ofI reference. v

The improved boiler-furnace, constituting the present invention in its simplest form, includes the base 1, a iirebox member 2, a magazine member 3, anda cap member 4..

` The .base 1, which constitutes the ash-pit, may be of any desired shape; but it has in the drawings been illustrated as consisting of anequilateral box provided with a door 5, through which access may be had Ato the interior. Upon the side and rear walls of the base within thev latter are mounted supp0rtingdeviees 6, adapted to receive the arms of a spider 7, which constitutes the grate-support, the arms of said spider being converged inwardly and upwardly and provided with a pintle .8, upon which the grate9 is supported for rotation, said grate being of approximately conical shape, so that the contents of the hre-box, which is supported upon said grate, will have a tendency to work in an out'- ward direction when the grate is shaken or rotated. Thesupporting members 6 are provided withy laterally-extending lugs 10, having Vertical slotsl 11 for the passage of the securing-bolts 12, thus admitting of vertical adjustment of the spider and of the gratesupported thereon.

The {ire-box member 2, as well as the remaining members of the device, are preferbox of suitable dimensions.

The member 3, which is supported upon the fire-box 2, also consists of a hollow annular casting, the interior diameter of which, how- IOO hollow annular casting is such as to form a irein said drawings. Figure 1 is a vertical sec- I It is preferred that these fines be disposed equidistantly with relation to each other and that said flues when the member 3 is placed in position upon the fire-box shall be ranged within the inner wall of said {ire-box, so that no part of said flues shall be obstructed to the up- Ward passage of products of combustion.

The dome or cap member 4 consists of a hollow annular casting, which is preferably of conoidal shape and of prope'rdimensi'ons to be supported upon the magazine member or upon an intermediate unit, to be hereinafter described. Said cap member is provided with a feed-opening 20 and with an interiorly-disposed chutel 21, 4connecting said feed-opening with the magazine portion of the furnace in order that fuel may beA fed into the latter without dropping into the draft-fies. .A door orV closure 22 is provided for the feed-opening, and the water-space of -the cap member is provided with an inlet 23 and an outlet 24. Said cap member is also provided with a smoke-exit 25, which, like the feed-opening,

extends through the water-space, which latter' is designated 26.

The members thus far described when placed in proper relation to each other, as in Fig. 2.

. ofthe drawings, will constitute a complete furnace structure; but for the purpose of inthe device there may be used in connection therewith any desired number of water-heater units, two such units having been shown in` Fig. 1 of the drawings, where each unit is designated 26. Each of said units comprises a hollow'annular casting, the inner walls 27 of which are of a diameter corresponding to that of the inner wall 28, constituting the magazine portion of the member 3, withwhich the said units are placed in alinement. Each of said units is also provided with a plurality of flues 29, disposed in alinement with each other andwith the iues 19 of the magazine member 3. Each of said units is finally provided with a water-inlet 30 and an outlet' 31. It will be observed that in each of the waterheating members the inlet is disposed near the lower edge and the outlet near the upper edge, said inlets and outlets being also on diametrically opposite sides in order that the most complete circulation may be established.

\ These features, however, may be considered incidental and not entirely essential.

It will be obvious that when the members 1,

interior walls of such units.

2, 3, and 4 only are used the magazine of the' furnace will be formed by the interior wal-l of the member 3 only, but that when one or more of the units 26 are employed the dimensions of the magazine will be increased by the The upper end of the magazine, as will be seen in Fig. -1, is provided with a cover or closure 32, `having a central aperture 33, through which extends va flexible member'34, supporting a weight or follower 35, adapted to move vertically-in the magazine and serving to press downward upon the fuel contained in the latter or to follow the said fuel when, owing to its consumption, the height of the fuel within the magazine is gradually lowered. The cap 'member 4 supports an apetured top plate 36, through which the ilexible member 34 extends, said member being guided over a pulley 37, supported upon said top plate, and over suitable guiding means, as 38, upon an upright 39, mounted adjacent to the furnace. The upright 39 is provided with a bearing40 for a shaft 41, which extends into the vash-pit, and is provided'with a pinion 42, the teeth of which are in mesh with teeth 43 upon the under side of the rotary grate. The flexiblesmember 34 is guided under a pulley 44 upon, the outer end of the shaft 41 and finally over a guide-pulley 45 near the upper end of the upright 39, thepfree end of said -flexible member carryinga weight 46, whereby it iskept taut. It is obvious that when the weight or follower descends into the magazine the flexible member 34, engaging the pulley 44, will rotate theshaft 41, thus gradually rotating the grate and freeing the latter from accumulations of ashes and clinkers. When it is desired to replenish the contents of -the magazine, the follower may be hoisted, thus lifting the lid 32 out of the way of the feedopening, and thus enabling fuel to be placed in the magazine, after which the follower and the lid may be readily restored to operative position.

. The ,shaft 41, carrying the pinion 42, whereby the grate is rotated, may beprovided with an extended non-circular portion 50, adapted to be engaged by a crank 51, whereby the grate, when desired, may be manually rotated by temporarily disconnecting the flexible member 34 from the pulley 44.

IOO

IOS

IIO

It is preferred to provide in connection pole of a storage or lother battery 56. 57 is a forked spring-contact arranged adjacent to the contact 54, lsaid spring-contact being bifurcated for the passage of the flexible element 34 and located in such a position that when engaged by the Weight 46 in the upward passage of the latter it will engage the con-I3 'tact 54. The contact member 57 is connected by a conductor 58 with the battery 56, the circuit including a magneto-bell 59, which is sounded when the circuit is closed. It will be seen that by this simple device notice will -be automatically given when the supply of fueln in the furnace is nearly exhausted, so that it may be replenished in time. This automatic indicating device-will be found espe.- cially useful when the improved apparatus is used for heating greenhouses and other places where it is important that the temperature be kept uniform at all times.

The operation and advantages of this invention will be readily understood from the fore going description, taken in connection with the drawings hereto annexed. When a furnace of relatively small capacity is constructed, t-he consumption of fuel may be regulated by elevating the grate so as to permit only a relatively small portion of fuel to pass from themagazine into the fire-box. When the capacity of the furnace is increased by adding one or more water-heater units, the grate may be lowered, thus permitting fuel to pass more rapidly from the magazine into the fire-box.

The construction of the device is extremely simple, and by simply adding to o r subtracting from the number of water-heater units furnaces of a great range of capacity may be erected without change of construction.

The inlets and outlets of the water-heating compartments may, if desired, be connected with a common source of supply and with a common exit; but such constructions are well known and within the skill of the mechanic.

It willbe observed that under the construeton illustrated and described the magazine is entirely surrounded by a water-space except at the open ends thereof, where it is fed with fuel and where it discharges into the lire-pot.

In like manner all the parts of the casing which are actually exposed to heat or ame are backed by water-spaces, so as to render it impossible for any part of the casing to be burned out when the device is in actual operation, and also utilizing every heat unit for the purpose of heating the water contained in the various compartments.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- 1. In a furnace, the combination with a plurality of superposed water-heater units provided with registeringopenings cooperating to form a fuel-magazine, and also provided with registering-fines .for the passage of products of combustion, of a cap member having an annular water-space and a feed-opening; said cap member being also provided with a' chute extending from the-feed-opening across the {iues or smoke-conductors to the magazine, and .with asmoke-exit.

2. In a furnace, a plurality of water-heater members cooperating, to form a magazine, a

base having a grate supported for rotation beneath said magazine, an upright adjacent to the furnace, a shaft supported for rotation on said upright and having grate-operating means at its inner end and a pulley at its outer end, guide-pulleys upon the upright, a weight movable in the magazine, a iiexible member conv4nected with said Weight, guided under the p ulley upon the grate-operating shaft and provided at its free' end with a weight whereby said iiexibleelement is kept taut, and an electric circuit including a sounder, a fixed con-l tact-point upon the upright, and a movable contact adjacent to said fixed contact and disposed inthe path of the ascending weight at the free end of the flexible element.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses. l

AUGUST RAHNER. Witnesses:

W. N. PA'BT, JOE A. WHITE. 

